I explain things this way: I tell them "My dogs are working dogs. What you want is a family dog. Family dogs sit on the couch with you while you watch a movie. Working dogs eat the couch while you watch a movie." Works every time. lol

Ian

 Quote:

I explain things this way: I tell them "My dogs are working dogs. What you want is a family dog. Family dogs sit on the couch with you while you watch a movie. Working dogs eat the couch while you watch a movie." Works every time. lol

couldnt put it any better <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I got my first MAl 3 days ago, she is 15 months old..she was donated to our PD fully trained and ready to work, I have always handel GS and this MAl never stops. I am just wore out, the bad thing is the handler at the SD where she was trained at ran with her 7 days a week for four miles fot the last 6 months. I can not even try to touch that....I now know how out of shape I am <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Cody, Congrats on your new Mal. Here is a suggestion for the exercise your dog needs. Bike with her. That way your dog gets a lot of exercise and you just get a little. You can easily do the 4 miles she's used to in around a half an hour. Your dog needs the exerise to be in top form mentally and physically for the work you want her to do. And you'll enjoy it too!

should a 15 month old really be biking/running four miles??

Well, in this case the dog is already used to 4 miles a day and has been getting it for some months. So if this amount of exercise is damaging, I suppose the damage is already done.

That said, I think that by 15 mos of age, 4 miles of low impact exercise is probably OK, but I would personally be afraid to do it every day with a dog that young.

For instance, with my 14 mo. Mal he gets a 2 mile walk every day and about 4 times a week we also bike 2 miles in addition to the walk. A couple of times we have biked 4 miles in one day. But I do worry about his hips and haven't pushed it too far.

With biking, it is best done on a soft surface if possible, such as forest preserve paths, and in temperatures not much over 50 degrees F.

That said, I have to say that biking is a lot of fun! I love it, and I love wearing my dog out and getting a little exercise myself at the same time.

Cody... get yourself a "Chuck-It" tennis ball thrower. It's the only thing that I have found that will wear my Mal out...they are great exercise for the dog.

I've taken my dog running a few times. After three miles I was half dead and he wasn't even panting. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Quote:should a 15 month old really be biking/running four miles??

This should not be any big deal, from what I understood the dog ran with his handler. 4 miles is absolutely nothing for a dog, especially if they only have to keep up with a human. If your dog cannot run this small amount at 15 months there should be a vet trip to see if there is something wrong. I am really against this trend to lower the bar. If any of my dogs couldn't run 10 miles with me at this age, then they were definate candidates for nuetering and pet homes. 4 miles is a goof.

it's not so much a matter of whether or not the dog can run the four miles. sure, he can do it. what matters is have the growth plates closed yet on his bones? if not, you could be setting him up for arthritis in future. different breeds complete their bone growth at different ages. i don't know what it is for mals. for my breed, which is slow to mature, i would not run him hard before he is two years old.

The reason I ask is because I started biking with my GS when whe was about one and a half (18 months). He loved it and wanted to go faster/longer ect. He couldn't get enough. I begun to worry about how much strain this was putting on him (he sure didn't show any signs of it!, but in case I began to take him to places where I could unleash him and let him run free by my bike (so if he wanted to slow down he could!). But he never did, just wanted to go, go, go. At the tender age of two he began limping a bit here and there, I took him to the vet for x-rays and he had/has some arthritis in his right front elbow (may or may not have been from the biking/jogging but I feel bad either way). <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> Anyhow, now that he is three and a half he still "LOVES" to bike, he could go for ages, but I go a bit slower now and only for short distances (which he hates!), because any longer and he is limping the next day.
I realize that there are a number of other factors that may have caused it, or perhaps he had a genetic predispostion for it who knows. But with my second dog I am more leary about they type of exercise she gets and will be for awhile. Unfortunately she never seems to get enough of any kind of exercise, its hard to tire that girl out in safe ways! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />